Skinny Love
by blveroan
Summary: It was all a source of comfort, a game of who could tame the monster. "If only I could see the lights in your eyes one last time."


_come on skinny love, just last the year.._

The warnings his sister and closest friend gave him danced in his head as he was shoved backwards on pristine sheets. Not a word was spoken as long, slender fingers slowly took off his uniform; words were not necessary. It was a silent agreement that went between them, that after this they were nothing to each other but superior and subordinate. But how he wished he could be more..

He felt lips on his; it was all but a gentle kiss, filled with teeth and the tang of blood. Armin's voice of reason and Mikasa's protective glare flitted across his mind once more.

It did not matter anymore.

They were gone.

_pour a little salt, we were never here._

Sometimes, Eren caught him gazing into his tea at the dead of night, tears in his eyes but never falling. How he wished he could comfort him, but it was not his comfort that Levi yearned for.

After all, it was Eren's fault Hanji and Erwin were nothing but corpses.

He remembers it clearly, like a lucid nightmare, how his temper got the best of him, how he saw nothing but red, the same kind of vision he saw as a titan-  
A sharp pain blossomed from the side of his head, pieces of porcelain and bits of blood hitting the floor like raindrops.

So he had been drinking prior to this.

A fist bunched in the front of his shirt, slamming him back against the wall with a brute amount of force.

"This is your fault!" he roared.

"I know."

"I should kill you right where you stand, just like the rest of them!"

"I know."

"You're a monster!"

"I know."

Levi glared at him, almost incredulous at his sudden lack of will to fight back. But Eren was always weak around him.

Maybe, just maybe he loved him.

_staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer._

"Captain..."

Looking up from the stack of papers on his desk- _god, did he always look so worn?_\- he eyed the shifter warily. The hopeful part of Eren thought that maybe he was regretting last night's actions. But he only knew that it was because he was a walking time bomb nowadays, a menace to mankind. His humanity was slipping away, leaving only a titan in the shell of a boy behind, becoming one and the same.

"Let's stop this."

_tell my love to wreck it all,_

"Ok."

Eren wanted to blink in surprise at how easy it was, really, but hadn't he always known?

The corporal never loved him. It was all a source of comfort, a game of who could tame the monster.

_cut out all the ropes and let me fall._

The verdict was execution. He couldn't find it in him to fear it, though, he was tired, so tired.

He had a week left to live.

Eren's only concern was how to make everything up to him.

Everyone else was either rooting for his death or gone.

He chuckled.

It was a good run.

_right in the moment, this order's tall._

That night, he went straight to the cold dungeon he had grown used to sleeping in so long ago. It had been so long. His hands ran over the iron bars, the dark walls, the cold bedding before sitting down at the edge, shedding his extra garments.

In a way, this dark confined space was a sort of solace to him. He could not hurt anyone here.

But it was lonely.

He cried.

_and i told you to be patient, and i told you to be fine._

It was as if they never knew each other at all.

Eren regretted ever saying anything; while Levi was not particularly fond of him, he let him stay in his bed in a state of post-coital bliss, no words exchanged, only feather light touches and the sounds of soft breathing.

And thanks to his sudden urge to protect himself, he could no longer experience the warmth those moments brought, no matter if they were real or not.

Even if it caused him pain, he only wished he had the courage to take back his words.

_and i told you to be balanced, and i told you to be kind._

Quietly tidying up one of the rooms, Eren did not suspect a thing when the corporal charged through the door, the resounding slam as it hit the wall causing the younger man to drop his broom and whirl around in surprise.

"Capt-"

"When did you plan on telling me?"

A moment's pause.

"Telling you what, sir?"

The raven stepped closer, his angry aura rolling off of him in waves. It was almost tangible. He hissed through his teeth, getting in Eren's personal bubble before shoving him, long limbs tangling and causing the shifter to fall.

"The fucking gall..."

It was unclear of whether or not he was talking about the brunette on the floor before him or the ones who issued the order of execution.

"Sir..."

"My quarters, tonight."

_and now all your love is wasted, then who the hell was i?_

"Captain..."

Everything was happening so fast, fueled with a fire that neither of them had had in a very long while.

"Captai-!"

But while Eren wanted this so badly, had only ever wanted this, he could not do it any more. He could not hide the emotions that had plagued him for years, the ones threatening to burst out of his chest any moment.

"_Levi._"

The smaller man halted in his movements, a steely gaze locking onto a much softer teal one.

"I love you."

_'cause now i'm breaking at the britches, and at the end of all your lines._

"Levi!"

"Levi, plea-!"

"Shut _up!_"

It was as if the corporal was just an apparition, a fleeting image that was there one moment and gone the next.

Eren suspected that his feelings were not requited, but he would rather have taken another knee to the face then deal with the agony that was leaving him behind without a word in the cold sheets, tears sliding down his face.

_who will love you?_

They took extra precautions in limiting his movement, but he simply did not have the will to fight for his life.

The walk up to the stand seemed to be the longest one of his life.

He stared at the noose as if it were his saving grace.

Familiar faces were out in the audience, all cheering for his death. It stung, but he would not have to worry about facing them anymore. Perhaps he was a coward, but it was too late to change anything.

His eyes raked across the sea of people one last time as the noose was placed around his neck, a stool underneath his feet.

_who will fight?_

Someone was shoving their way to the front of the crowd, shouting with blades in hand.

"Levi?" he whispered.

_No, stop, you'll get yourself killed._

The stool was kicked out from underneath him, rope digging into his throat as the sudden drop broke his neck.

Agonizing pain.

Then nothing.

_and who will fall far behind?_

"Eren!" he roared, but it was too late.

Hands seized his arms, making him drop his blades as insults were thrown in his ear, spittle landing on his face as the crowd around him reacted so violently to his outward display of emotion for the lifeless monster dangling from a rope on the stands.

"Kill him!"

"Hang him with the poor beast!"

Shouts reverberated from all around him, but he ignored them in favor of watching his beloved Eren.

When did Eren become his, he wondered?

"How would you like to be pierced with your own blade?" someone hissed into his ear.

_Do as you wish._

His comrades had fallen, and his clarity was dead.

_If only I could see the lights in your eyes one last time._

Everything faded to black.

_come on, skinny love._


End file.
